When it comes to event marketing, there’s no shortage of cool promotional event ideas for reaching and delighting your audience. But the trick is finding a way to connect, keep their attention, and deliver on your sales or conversion goals. With that in mind, here’s a list of some of the best ideas to make your next event a smash no matter where you live!
13 Cool Urban Marketing Promotional Event Ideas
Urban marketing is a new trend where marketers use a non-traditional venue to connect with consumers during the course of their daily lives, often right on city streets themselves. They work in small towns and big cities to deliver unexpected and fun interactions with your brand.
1. Murals – Have you ever seen a promotional mural? While murals don’t have to be promotional, they offer a fun way to interact with a brand as well as plenty of opportunities for social media posts!
2. Sidewalk Art – This has many similarities to a mural except that it’s usually made from chalk and not as long-lasting. It also lends itself to a fun competition! You can easily draw the products you want to promote or even make a path that leads to your store!
3. Paint Curbs – What about painting addresses or quotes on curbs or near gutters? Just check with your city first to make sure it doesn’t go against code!
4. Paint Concrete Blocks – Creating artwork with concrete blocks can be a lot of fun, too. Think of it as an urban version of kindness rocks that you find around town and on trails. Write your store name on it or even the account name to find your store on Instagram or Facebook.
5. Reverse Graffiti – This is a brilliant way to combine a stencil with urban cleanup, by pressure washing clean around and in the open areas. What results is long-lasting artwork that doesn’t have the permanence of paint.
6. Flyers – While flyers aren’t new, they’re still effective, especially if you can enhance the page in some way, perhaps with a cutout or embossed area.
7. QR Code Mystery – Add a QR code to a flyer with little other information to create a mystery. It will pique their curiosity and they will want to know more. You can even add a QR code to a mural or on some stickers that you will hide around the city!
8. Flash Mob – While flash mobs aren’t new, they are captivating and attention-grabbing!
9. Sponsor an Urban Art Contest – This could be any of the art ideas listed so far, or even the act of setting up easels on the street and asking artists or even bystanders to join in.
10. Moving Statues – This idea isn’t new either and you can find moving statues in cities on just about every continent. However, they are captivating and can be a great way to draw attention to a particular place.
11. Live Exhibition – How many people stopped to gawk last time something happened near you? How can you capitalize on that idea? Live performances, including flash mobs, fall into this category. But if you’re planning a mural or sidewalk art, install it when you can get people’s attention — not during quiet hours!
12. Scavenger Hunts – Scavenger hunts are always fun, especially when you can add digital engagement, hashtags, and social proof to the game. Better yet, you can develop an app integration and let people earn badges.
13. Bicycle Repair Stations – Urban areas are moving increasingly to non-motorized transportation. So what about sponsoring something helpful like a bicycle repair station to improve on your area? It gets your brand out there while also engaging with people in an unexpected way.
14. Street Photo Booth – With iPad based software like Onebooth, you can “set up shop” just about anywhere, making this one of the freshest promotional event ideas around. Better yet, it can work with and enhance most of the other options we’re sharing with you here! What do you need to make it work? Just an iPad and a photo booth app!
Want to try it out? Get a free Onebooth account here!
9 Seasonal Promotional Event Ideas for Fall
Since it’s fall, you may be looking for ideas you can put into action right now. Check out these options!
1. Back to School Shopping Haul – Everyone knows that kids are expensive, especially during school shopping! It’s also not easy! What about partnering with a local store to create pre-set bags of shopping lists for each school and class. Then, of course, you can brand the bags however you want! Better yet, create a Back to School iPad-based photo booth with an app like Onebooth. And if you include fun overlays and stickers, you won’t need much in the way of props or set up. (Learn how to start a photo booth business here.)
2. Harvest Dinner – Everyone loves food! Partner with a local eatery or farmer to put on or join their event!
3. Fall Festival – Does your area have a fall festival? Can you join in the fun? What about setting up a small scale festival with a few other vendors to create an event people can attend to sample foods, do some shopping, and more!
4. Farmers Markets – What better way to connect with your audience than by capitalizing on something people attend regularly. Depending on where you live, these markets extend well into fall and sometimes beyond!
5. Pumpkin Patches – Nothing says fall better than a pumpkin patch. If there isn’t one easily accessible to you, think about local venues that might be open to a new take on a pumpkin patch.
6. #PSL – Lemonade stands are great for summer but what about capitalizing on all things Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Can you set up a PSL station or stand anywhere? People will flock to you every time.
7. Pumpkin Carving Contests – Young and old alike love their Jack O’Lanterns and what better way to increase engagement than to tap into their competitive spirit. Have a selection of carving utensils and paint supplies nearby. Or have them bring their creations to you!
8. Host a Tasting – Is craft beer big in your area? What about wine or whiskey? These are huge ways to grow your audience while also having a ton of fun.
9. Branded Cupcakes – Everyone loves a cupcake. If baking isn’t your thing, work with a cupcakery to create memorable cupcakes that tie into your brand.
10. Trivia Nights – As the weather cools off, people may want to move indoors, so think about how you can host a trivia night to pack people in!
11. Host a Fundraiser – Want to sponsor a teacher in your area? How about an animal rescue? Any of these ideas could work out as a fundraiser with proceeds going to support your cause. Plus it gives everyone the warm fuzzies.
12. Host a Bonfire – What better way to attract new clients than by inviting them to a bonfire. With warm drinks, music, and maybe some fun games, it’s a great way to grow your business and create a positive impression.
13. Costume Contest – Everyone loves to dress up. So set up a costume contest for all ages and combine it with any of the other ideas we’ve listed here! Think about taking your iPad and your photo booth software, like Onebooth! It’ll be perfect to take pictures of all the costume and give guest lasting memories.
Want to try it out? Get a free Onebooth account here!
Wrapping it Up
There’s no better time than now to warm up your audience in memorable ways. So pick one or more of these cool promotional event ideas and put them into action. We’d love to hear how they work for you. And, are there any other ideas that you love? Please share them in the comments!
